Sep-16IR Flashcards
Sep-16IR-Index
2.1. 17th Summit of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM)
2.2. India-ASEAN
2.3. India-Vietnam
2.4. Migrants and Refugees
2.5. India-Egypt
2.6. India-Pakistan
2.7. SAARC Summit
2.8. India-Afghanistan
2.9. APTTA (Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade
Agreement)
2.10. G-20 Summit
2.11. Regime Change in Brazil
2.12. Russia-Pakistan
2.1. 17TH SUMMIT OF THE NON ALIGNED MOVEMENT (NAM)
Why in news?
The 17th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) took place in Margarita, Venezuela.
India was represented by Vice President and not by the head of government (Prime Minister) as the usual
practice.
Only once before, the Indian Prime Minister had
not been to the NAM Summit at Havana (Cuba)
in 1979 under the caretaker government of
Prime Minister Charan Singh
Highlights of Vice President address at summit
Anti-terrorism Push:
India echoed for “concrete action” to fight against terrorism and asked the 120-nation group to set up a mechanism to ensure effective cooperation in combating the menace.
Vice President called terrorism as one of the “most egregious sources of human right violations today” and condemned its use as an instrument of state policy.
UN reform
Vice President strongly flagged the issue of UN reforms. He urged for use the forthcoming 71st UNGA to ensure that discussions in the Inter-Governmental Negotiations move forward. Noting that the global landscape has changed since 1961, when NAM was formed, Vice President stressed that the values and principles on which the foundations of the movement, namely - “respect for sovereignty”
- “peaceful settlement of disputes” and
- “international cooperation” -– are as relevant today as they were at the time of the first summit.
Sustainable development
He urged member states to ensure wholehearted and holistic implementation of the SDGs and remain attentive to any effort to modify or distort Agenda 2030.
He called Sustainable development as the bedrock and the highest aspiration of NAM countries’ efforts.
Peace and sovereignty
He asserted that peace and sovereignty are a prerequisite for development; a peaceful global environment is essential for development and for development cooperation.
Post-Cold War world Transition in NAM :
Over the course of the past 60 years, the NAM has seen an erosion of its authority.
The Third World debt crisis of the 1980s crushed the economic ambitions of NAM states.
Unipolar world: The Soviet Union collapsed, the U.S. bombed Panama and Iraq, and history seemed to end with American ascendency.
By the early 1990s, several important powers of NAM began to back away (Argentina left in 1991). Yugoslavia crumbled, with war tearing apart its promise.
India went to the IMF and gestured to the U.S. that its days of non-alignment had gradually come to a close. NAM oscillated between suspicion of U.S. motives and attempts to regenerate the economic engines of its members.
No binding principles: NAM does not have any binding principles and that it is a marriage of convenience among disparate countries. Contrary to the image of a cohesive movement seeking to challenge the dominance of the imperialist powers, it was hard to find agreement among the founding leaders on the purpose and objectives of NAM.
Division within NAM: The Iran-Iraq war, the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the Vietnamese intervention in Cambodia, and the military support to national liberation movements in Southern Africa and Central America had deeply divided the NAM.
Importance/Relevance of NAM:
NAM acts as catalyst to foster the co-operation between south -south nation.
NAM is particularly important in elections at the UN, including the possible identification of new permanent members of the Security Council. In fact, it was through NAM that we operated to counter the efforts to expand the UN Security Council by including just Germany and Japan as permanent members.
No NAM country may agree to isolate Pakistan, but the NAM forum will be an effective instrument to project our anti-terrorist sentiments. NAM has the potential to act as a strong movement against international terrorism. NAM therefore must continue to live as the movement of the developing countries engaged in the pursuit of international peace, security, and development.
NAM today, like the Commonwealth has always been, is a heritage we need not discard.
The very informal nature of NAM permits members to operate individually. It also has the facility of members reserving their positions, as we did on the non-proliferation positions of NAM.
To conclude
Politics of the Third World has successfully influenced the thematic setting of the global agenda. Today North-South relations and the issues connected with the development of countries of the South have become one of the main inertia systems of our global world, and in formulating potential answers to global challenges. There is an ever increasing need for non-alignment in the sense of alliance formation and concerted efforts to make the existence of the NAM “no less necessary than before.” What we need to do is to strengthen the movement with new hopes and new challenges as per 21st century
Box–Non Aligned Movement (NAM)
It was founded in September 1961. At present NAM have 120 member countries and 17 observer countries.
The idea of NAM was jointly conceived by India’s Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Indonesia’s President Sukarno, Egypt’s President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Ghana’s President Kwame Nkrumah and Yugoslavia’s President Josip Broz Tito.
The first non-alignment summit was held in Belgrade in 1961.
NAM Policy and ideology-
Push for an alternative economic order
Campaign against the arms race that had put the fear of nuclear annihilation across the planet.
It was also conceived as the voice of the former colonies and poor nations in a world overwhelmingly dominated by the rich western nations.
2.2. INDIA-ASEAN
Why in News?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the 14th Asean-India Summit and 11th East Asia Summit in Vientiane, the capital of Laos.
History and Evolution of the India-ASEAN Relations –after its Independence in 1947, India followed a policy of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and became a champion of decolonisation, including in Southeast Asia. However, during the 1970s, India’s perceived tilt towards the Soviet Union led Southeast Asia to drift away from India as both followed different economic and political ideologies.
In a major shift away from policies of the Cold War era,India adopted the “Look East Policy” (LEP) soon after
economic liberalisation in 1991 to increase economic and commercial ties with East and Southeast Asian nations such as China. Over the years the policy has also concentrated on building closer ties on the strategic and security aspects in the region.
Phases of LEP-
Phase I lasted between 1991 and 2002, when the
primary thrust was toward renewed political and
economic relations with ASEAN countries.
During Phase II (2003 to 2012), the scope of the LEP was broadened to include China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.
The new phase of LEP would focus on extensive economic and security issues, including joint efforts to protect the Sea Lanes of Communications and launch coordinated counter-terrorism activities.
One of the major consequences of India’s engagement with ASEAN has been the ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement (AIFTA), which was seen as an essential step towards deeper economic integration.
Its initial framework was signed on 8 October 2003 in Bali, Indonesia and the final agreement was signed on 13 August 2009, coming into effect from 1 January 2010.
The FTA reduced tariff barriers to trade between India and the ASEAN countries, and included specific provisions for services trade and investment facilitation.
India was accorded full ASEAN Dialogue Partner Status in 1995, followed by its membership in the ASEAN Regional Forum. The India-ASEAN Relations soon broadened its cooperation into political as well as security arenas. India also joined the East Asian Summit (EAS) in 2005.
ASEAN has been a strategic partner of India since 2012. India and ASEAN have 30 dialogue mechanisms which meet regularly. India’s engagement with the ASEAN and wider Asia-Pacific region has acquired further momentum following the enunciation of the ‘Act-East Policy’(AEP) at the 12th ASEAN-India Summit and 9th East Asia Summit in Myanmar in November 2014. Under the AEP, India not only expected to bolster its economic engagements with the region; it yearned to emerge as a potential security balancer as well. Commerce, Culture and Connectivity are the three pillars of India’s robust engagement with ASEAN. Enhancing the connectivity in all its dimensions – physical, digital, economy, institutional and cultural- has been at the heart of India’s strategic partnership with ASEAN.
Importance of ASEAN for India :
Economically: India is one of the strategic partners of ASEAN. With a total population of 1.8 billion and a combined GDP of $3.8 trillion, ASEAN and India together form an important economic space in the world. Geopolitically
India expects to benefit geopolitically as well from its rejuvenated affinity with ASEAN and other regional countries.
India has attempted to demonstrate its ability to play a dynamic role in the region. India sent a strong signal to China by mentioning the importance of maintaining freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
Maritime Importance: Freedom of navigation in the South China Sea is essential for India in order to ensure that its sea-bound trade continues uninterrupted.
Sea lanes are “life lines of global trade.” India supports freedom of navigation based on United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
ASEAN is important for extending cooperation in areas
such as maritime security including freedom of
navigation, drug trafficking and cybercrime.
Security Aspect: There are diverse areas on which India and
ASEAN are jointly working, e.g. non-traditional security
threats such as terrorism, human and drug trafficking,
cybercrimes and piracy in the Malacca Straits, etc.
Connectivity Aspect
The envisaged highway (under construction) and rail
connectivity to energy giants like, Nepal and Myanmar
and further to Thailand, will improve people to people
contact, thus enhancing the sphere of economic
cooperation and interdependence.
The highly underdeveloped NE States of India, which lie
at the gateway to a region offering unlimited economic
opportunities, will witness an economic transformation.
Energy security
ASEAN countries, particularly Myanmar, Vietnam and Malaysia can potentially contribute to India’s energy security.
Oil and natural gas deposits in the South China Sea region.
Trade relation with ASEAN:
Trade between India and ASEAN stood at US$ 65.04 billion in 2015-16 and comprises 10.12% of India’s total trade with the world.
The ASEAN-India economic integration process has got a fillip with the creation of the ASEAN-India Free Trade Area in July 2015, following the entry into force of the ASEAN-India Trade in Services and Investment Agreements.
Conclusion of a balanced Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement will further boost our trade and investment ties with the region.
Important Issues Highlighted by PM Modi during the EAS:
The two most significant issues highlighted by PM Modi during his address at EAS were: Recommending strongest action against those states that use terrorism as an instrument of state policy and outlining India’s principled stand on the South China Sea issue.
PM Modi commented that most countries in the South Asian region were pursuing a peaceful path to economic prosperity “But, there is one country in India’s neighbourhood whose competitive advantage rests solely in producing and exporting terrorism.”
For India’s principled stand on the South China Sea issue, he said that the lanes of communication passing through the sea were “main arteries of global merchandise trade”.
India supports freedom of navigation and over flight, and unimpeded commerce, based on the principles of international law, as reflected notably in the UNCLOS.
Box–East Asia Summit (EAS)
The East Asia Summit is the premier leaders-led forum in the Asia-Pacific. Since its inception in 2005, it has played a significant role in the strategic, geopolitical and economic evolution of East Asia.
Apart from the 10 ASEAN Member states, East Asia Summit includes India, China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, United States and Russia.
India, being a founding member of the East Asia Summit, is committed to strengthening the East Asia Summit and making it more effective for dealing with contemporary challenges.
2.3. INDIA-VIETNAM
Why in news?
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Vietnam marked an important step forward in their ties. During Modi’s visit, the two countries decided to upgrade their relationship from a “strategic partnership” to a “comprehensive strategic partnership.
Outcomes of the Visit
India and Vietnam signed 12 agreements in a wide range of areas covering defence, IT, space, double taxation and sharing white shipping information, signalling a strong upward push in their strategic ties.
Defence Agreement: India extended $500 million Line of Credit to Vietnam for facilitating deeper defence cooperation with the south East Asian nation, as the two countries elevated their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to respond to emerging regional challenges.
India had offered earlier $100 million in 2013 to Vietnam to buy defense hardware. Though both countries have been negotiating the sale of BrahMos missiles (jointly produced by India and Russia), no decision was taken on the issue during this latest visit.
South China Sea conflict
India and Vietnam called for “peaceful” resolution of the South China Sea issue and “exercise self-restraint.”
They also urged all parties to show “utmost respect” for the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Vietnam’s Importance for India–
Vietnam is an important element of India’s Act East Policy, which aims to re-invigorate its historical ties with countries in Southeast and East Asia.
Connectivity: In the future, the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway could link up with already existing roads like the one linking Thailand with the Vietnamese port of Da Nang.
Vietnam is also an important partner for India’s engagement in the ASEAN being the coordinator country for India-ASEAN ties for 2015-2018.
Strategic location: Vietnam is located at a strategically important place and operates as “the gate” to enter Southeast Asia from north.
India’s relations with Vietnam are marked by growing economic and commercial engagement. India is now among the top ten trading partners of Vietnam.
India’s growing economy needs energy resources and Vietnam has rich hydrocarbon reserves, for example ONGC had been given two exploration blocks originally (Block 127 and Block 128 in 2006).
India’s Importance for Vietnam
India could be a bulwark against the dominance of any single country in the region. Hanoi has a long-festering territorial dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea.
Indian companies can infuse much needed capital and technology into the Vietnamese market to bring it to par with its East Asian counterparts.
There is the strong cultural aspect to the relationship, with Buddhism seeping into Vietnam from the land of its birth in India. Vietnam has a large number of Buddhists and many of them come to visit Buddhist holy shrines in India.
Spirituality has given a fresh and interesting aspect to India-Vietnam relationship. With the resurgence of Buddhism in Vietnam, the country has found a deep connect with India, home to Buddhism.
Box–Trade and investment
The bilateral trade between two countries is around $ 8 billion; it has grown 400 per cent in the last six to seven years. Both sides have agreed on a new trade target of US$ 15 billion by 2020.
India has 93 projects in Vietnam with total investment of about US$ 1 bn.
Vietnam has three investment projects in India with total investment of US$ 23.6 million.
- MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES
2. 4.1. NEW YORK DECLARATION ON MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES
Need for Declaration
The world is faced with more than 21 million refugees, almost 41 million internally displaced, 3.2 million asylum seekers and increasing flows of mixed migrants caused by conflict, repression and poverty.
This grave trend is further fueled by climate change and the disasters and pressure on resources they leave behind. Such incidences have led to the New York Declaration.
Aim of the Declaration
it expresses the political will of world leaders to save lives, protect rights and share responsibility on a global scale.
The declaration aimed at providing a more coordinated and humane response to the refugee crisis that has strained resources and sparked divisions from Africa to Europe.
What are the commitments?
The New York Declaration contains bold commitments both to address the issues we face now and to prepare the world for future challenges. These include commitments to:
Protect the human rights of all refugees and migrants, regardless of status. This includes the rights of women and girls and promoting their full, equal and meaningful participation in finding solutions.
Ensure that all refugee and migrant children are receiving education within a few months of arrival.
Prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence.
Support those countries rescuing, receiving and hosting large numbers of refugees and migrants.
Work towards ending the practice of detaining children for the purposes of determining their migration status.
Strongly condemn xenophobia against refugees and
migrants and support a global campaign to counter it.
Strengthen the positive contributions made by migrants to economic and social development in their host countries.
Improve the delivery of humanitarian and development assistance to those countries most affected, including through innovative multilateral financial solutions, with the goal of closing all funding gaps.
Implement a comprehensive refugee response, based on a new framework that sets out the responsibility of Member States, civil society partners and the UN system, whenever there is a large movement of refugees or a protracted refugee situation.
Find new homes for all refugees identified by UNHCR as needing resettlement; and expand the opportunities for refugees to relocate to other countries through, for example, labour mobility or education schemes.
Strengthen the global governance of migration by bringing the International Organization for Migration into the UN system.
No binding commitments: The declaration has no concrete commitments and is not legally binding but rather calls on countries to protect refugees’ human rights, boost humanitarian aid and increase resettlement of refugees.
Box–Refugees
According to the UN Refugee Agency, refugees are people forced to flee due to armed conflict or persecution, while migrants choose to move in search of a better life.
Around the world, there are currently about 21.3 million refugees, 3.2 million asylum seekers, and 40.8 million migrants.
2.4.2. UNICEF REPORT ON REFUGEES
Why in news?
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on 7 September 2016 released the report titled Uprooted: The growing crisis for refugee and migrant children
Key findings
According to the report, nearly 50 million children have been uprooted across the globe and millions more migrating in the hope of finding a better, safer life.
Traumatized by the conflicts and violence they are fleeing, they face further dangers including
the risk of drowning on sea crossings,
malnourishment,
trafficking,
rape and even murder
In countries they travel through and at their destinations, they often face xenophobia and discrimination.
1 in 200 children in the world is a child refugee.
Nearly 1 in 3 children living outside their country of birth is a refugee
Child refugees has increased by two times from 2005 to 2015.
Regional perspective:
Asia is home to 2 in 5 of the world’s child migrants
Six specific actions to protect refugee and migrant children:
Protecting child refugees and migrants, particularly unaccompanied children from exploitation and violence.
Ending the detention of children seeking refugee status or migrating by introducing a range of practical alternatives.
Keeping families together as the best way to protect children and give children legal status.
Keeping all refugee and migrant children learning and giving them access to health and other quality services.
Pressing for action on the underlying causes of large-scale movements of refugees and migrants.
Promoting measures to combat xenophobia, discrimination and marginalization.
Box–International protocols
Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951) and Protocol (1967)
Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air (2000)
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (1990.
Many countries are yet to ratify these which will strengthen protections to these refugees.
2.5. INDIA-EGYPT
Why in News? Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi paid official visit to India.
Outcomes of the Visit–
Political and Security Cooperation:
Declaration of a “robust defence and security partnership” is likely to further energise the Joint Defence Cooperation which was set up in 2006 and has held six meetings so far.
The two leaders highlighted the leading role of India and Egypt in the maintenance of international peace and security, being among the ten largest troop and police contributing countries in United Nations missions.
Fighting terrorism has been identified as an important issue for both India and Egypt as they are concerned with the growing menace of the Islamic State (IS).
The two leaders affirmed their commitment to achieve a comprehensive reform of the United Nations, including the revitalization of the General Assembly as the only universal organ representing all member states.
The two leaders strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. They also reaffirmed their resolve to work together at UN on concluding the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT).
To tackle the challenges of adverse impacts of climate change, the two leaders highlighted the importance of a global approach based on the principles and provisions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Paris Agreement in particular the principles of Equity, and the Common but Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR).
Both leaders emphasized that enhanced support from developed countries to developing countries and the provision of adequate, predictable and sustainable means of implementation in particular finance, technology transfer and capacity building is a corner stone for the realization of the globally agreed commitments to tackle climate change.
Trade and Investment
India and Egypt vowed to take their economic and trade ties to the next level. Both countries have set a bilateral trade target of $8 billion in the near future from the current $3 billion.
There are currently 52 Indian companies operating in Egypt of which 25 are joint ventures with a total investment of $3 billion across a wide range of sectors.
As a $286-billion economy with around 89 million consumers, which is the second largest in Africa, Egypt has tremendous potential as an economic partner.
President Al-Sisi invited Indian participation in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, particularly in sectors such as petro-chemicals, energy, agriculture, healthcare, education, skills and IT.
Agreement on Maritime Transport
India and Egypt signed an agreement on Maritime Transport. The agreement would help the two nations to step-up co-operation on the seas not only in terms of maritime commerce but also in transit of naval vessels
Cultural exchange
Cultural exchange is another vital aspect of our excellent bilateral relations.
The two leaders agreed that a special and enlarged “India by the Nile Festival” would be held in 2017 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of India’s independence. They also welcomed the proposal to have the inaugural “Egypt by the Ganga Festival” in 2017
2.6. INDIA-PAKISTAN
Why in News?
In the wake of the Uri attack, several experts have demanded that India withdraw from the Indus Waters Treaty and also MFN status to Pakistan.
Indus Water Treaty (IWT)
The Indus Waters Treaty was signed on September 19, 1960 by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan’s President Ayub Khan.
The 1960 treaty for the Indus and five tributaries flowing from India to Pakistan was brokered by the World Bank (then, the IBRD), and has held through wars and conflicts along the Line of Control.
The treaty administers how river Indus and its tributaries that flow in both the countries will be utilized.
According to the treaty, Beas, Ravi and Sutlej are to be governed by India, while, Indus, Chenab and Jhelum are to be taken care by Pakistan.
However, since Indus flows from India, the country is allowed to use 20 per cent of its water for irrigation, power generation and transport purposes.
A Permanent Indus Commission was set up as a bilateral commission to implement and manage the Treaty. The Commission solves disputes arising over water sharing.
The Treaty also provides arbitration mechanism to solve disputes amicably.
Though Indus originates from Tibet, China has been kept out of the Treaty. If China decides to stop or change the flow of the river, it will affect both India and Pakistan.
Climate change is causing melting of ice in Tibetan plateau, which scientists believe will affect the river in future.
Both India and Pakistan are still at loggerheads over various issues since Partition, but there has been no fight over water after the Treaty was ratified.
Review of IWT
In the wake of the Uri attack, several experts have demanded that India withdraw from the Indus Waters Treaty whose terms are considered generous to Pakistan. However, officials made it clear that the IWT will hold, at least for the moment. Instead, the Centre drew up a list of measures to optimize use of the Indus waters that India has so far failed to do.
The Union government has decided to set up an inter-ministerial committee to study India’s further options on the Indus Waters Treaty.
The government also decided to build more run-of-the-river hydropower projects on western rivers, to exploit the full potential of 18,600 MW (current projects come to 11,406 MW).
A decision was taken to review restarting the Tulbul navigation project that India had suspended after Pakistan’s objections in 1987.
If India revokes IWT
Revoking it would threaten regional stability and India’s credibility globally.
It remains unclear what India intends to do with the “western” rivers in question beyond the short-term plan to irrigate Jammu and Kashmir’s fields better.
Dams required holding the course of the tributaries of the Indus to alter water levels to Pakistan dramatically would take more than a decade to build.
Given the environmental and geopolitical consequences of such actions, they are unlikely to elicit any international funding.
Stopping the waters of the Indus rivers can be counterproductive also
India has water-sharing arrangements with other neighbours as well. Not honouring the Indus Treaty would make them uneasy and distrustful.
India would would lose her voice if China, decides to do something similar.
Most Favoured Nation (MFN)
Most Favoured Nation is a treatment accorded to a trade partner to ensure non-discriminatory trade between two countries vis-a-vis other trade partners. Under WTO rules, a member country cannot discriminate between its trade partners. If a special status is granted to a trade partner, it must be extended to all members of the WTO.
While India has given the status to Pakistan back in 1996, it has not reciprocated by doing the same till date.
Bilateral trade between the two nations was just $2.6 billion in 2015-16 (of which $2.2 billion constituted India’s exports to Pakistan) — which represented a minuscule 0.4 per cent of India’s overall goods trade worth $643.3 billion in the same year.
Therefore, even if India revokes the MFN status, it would only have a “symbolic” impact.
2.7. SAARC SUMMIT
Why in News?
In the wake of the Uri attack, Indian government has launched diplomatic offensive to isolate Pakistan internationally and in its neighbourhood.
India has decided to pull out of the SAARC summit in Islamabad this November, with Afghanistan, Bhutan and Bangladesh deciding to follow suit.
The decision is unprecedented as this is the first time that India has cancelled participation in the regional group’s summit meeting because of actions that it blames on Pakistan-based elements.
As per Experts, India’s cancellation might handicap economic integration in South Asia.
‘SAARC minus Pakistan’
By pulling out of the SAARC summit in Islamabad, the government is trying to achieve two ends: sending a tough message in the wake of the Uri attack, but also that it is going ahead with its plan for ‘SAARC minus Pakistan’ instead.
Since the previous Nepal summit, Pakistan has blocked all protocols to better link the region, while India has pursued a “SAARC minus Pakistan” plan to push through with agreements it is keen on.
Motor vehicle movement agreement, railway linkages, and the SAARC satellite programme for which all SAARC countries apart from Pakistan have signed up.
With Afghanistan, which cannot be accessed by land, the two governments have discussed a separate “air corridor” for cargo.
A bigger articulation of that vision is expected in mid-October, when India hosts the BIMSTEC outreach summit on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Goa.
Another grouping of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka met for the South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) programme in Delhi to release the first SASEC Operational Plan 2016-2025.
SASEC’s lead financier, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), has already approved about 40 infrastructures and IT projects worth about $7.7 billion.
Pakistan’s line of action
Pakistan continues to receive support from several other countries outside of the SAARC, most notably China, and also has a new relationship with Russia that conducted its first-ever military exercises in Pakistan just days after the Uri attack. Iran too sent four naval warships to the Karachi port to participate in a Passage exercise (PASSEX).
Way forward for India
An economic union is the order of the day. If India has to achieve its global desires to be an economic power, she has to get into the driver’s seat and create an environment which provides opportunities and not just veto them for security concerns.
2.8. INDIA-AFGHANISTAN
Why in News?
Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani paid official visit to India. During the visit following agreements have been singed between two countries.
India and Afghanistan signed an Extradition Treaty to facilitate exchange of wanted terrorists and criminals.
The two sides also sealed agreements on peaceful uses of outer space and on cooperation on civil and commercial matters
India also extended a $one-billion for ‘capacity and capability building’ in areas such as education, health, agriculture, skill development, empowerment of women, energy, infrastructure and strengthening of democratic institutions.
India also offered Afghanistan affordable pharmaceutical products and medicines.
2.9. APTTA (AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN TRANSIT TRADE AGREEMENT)
The Afghanistan–Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (also known as APTTA) is a bilateral trade agreement signed in 2010 by Pakistan and Afghanistan that calls for greater facilitation in the movement of goods amongst the two countries.
The 2010 APTTA allows for both countries to use each other’s airports, railways, roads, and ports for transit trade along designated transit corridors.
The agreement does not cover road transport vehicles from any third country, be it from India or any Central Asia country.
The APTTA agreement allows Afghan trucks to transport exports to India via Pakistan up to the Wagah crossing point, but does not offer Afghanistan the right to import Indian goods across Pakistani territory.
Issues with APTTA
Far from being a unifier, the APTTA itself has become a point of deep discord.
Bitter India-Pakistan relations mean Afghan trucks carrying perishable fruit face long delays on both sides of the border where they must be loaded and unloaded, often more than once.
Pakistan has rejected the demand voiced by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that India be made a party to its transit trade pact with Kabul
India’s External Affairs Minister had at the last Heart of Asia ministerial conference in Islamabad expressed India’s wish to join the Afghanistan-Pakistan Trade and Transit Agreement (APTTA).
Separate trade routes
India, Pakistan and Afghanistan are moving at a furious pace to cut one another out of the trade equation.
India is working on a corridor via Iran’s Chabahar port, where goods will go up the land route and connect to the Zaranj-Delaram Highway without touching Pakistan.
Pakistan will connect directly to China through the small strip through PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan once the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is ready, avoiding both India and Afghanistan.
Afghanistan too is assiduously cultivating its options to the north, and its position in China’s One Belt, One Road plans.
2.10. G-20 SUMMIT
Why in News?
11th G20 Summit was held in Hangzhou, China. The theme of the Summit was “Toward an Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy”.
Highlights of G20 Summit
Leaders of G20 economies have made substantial achievements on development issues including consensus to advance anti-corruption campaign and set up a research centre in China on fugitive repatriation and asset recovery.
Sustainable Development
For the first time, the summit put the issue of development front and centre of the global macro policy framework, constituted an action plan to
facilitate the implementation of the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development and
supported the industrialisation of African
countries and least developed countries
collectively.
Hangzhou Consensus
“Hangzhou Consensus” calls on the G20 to deliver more inclusive economic growth through co-ordinated macroeconomic policy, open trade and innovation. In short, it reaffirms the group’s core mandate: to make globalisation work for the benefit of all.
International tax avoidance
Numerous low-key objectives shared by multiple G20 members, such as strengthening enforcement against international tax avoidance and advancing cooperation on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting.
Climate change
Despite pressure from the US and China, the final G20 communique has skipped any mention of the December 2016 deadline for member-countries to ratify the Paris Agreement on climate change. It has also avoided specifying a date for ending fossil fuel subsidies.
Among the major issues that found mention in the summit was the question of excess steel capacity in China resulting in a flood of cheap imports into India, the U.K. and other economies.
Little real progress was made on key issues of climate change and energy.
Other challenges that consumed the attention and energy of leaders on the sidelines, including co-ordinated responses to the Syrian crisis, refugees, terrorism and migration, remain unresolved.
Box–G-20
The G20 started in 1999 as a meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis.
The Group of Twenty (G20) is the premier forum for its members’ international economic cooperation and decision-making. It comprises 19 countries plus the European Union.
G20 represents 85% of global GDP, 80% of international trade, 65% of world’s population.
In 2008, the first G20 Leaders’ Summit was held, and the group played a key role in responding to the global financial crisis.
2.11. REGIME CHANGE IN BRAZIL
Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff was stripped of the country’s presidency in a Senate impeachment vote, ending 13 years of leftist rule in Latin America’s biggest economy
Reasons for Rousseff’s Impeachment
Ms. Rousseff’s popularity has eroded fast over the last year with a deepening economic crisis and a spreading corruption scandal, in which several of her Workers Party (PT) leaders have been implicated.
Some of the measures she took, such as cutting public expenditure to control deficit, were counter-productive as they drove the PT’s traditional base, the working people, away from her.
Economic crisis
Brazil’s economy is going through its worst recession in more than three decades following a drop in prices for Brazilian commodities such as oil, iron ore and soya.
In 2015, the economy shrank by 3.8%, its worst annual performance since 1981.
Inflation reached 10.7% at the end of last year, a 12-year-high.
Unemployment increased to 9% in 2015 and economists predict it could go into double figures in the coming months.
Impact of impeachment
The impeachment is likely to deepen Brazil’s political crisis at a time when the country needs a stable administration to cope with the enormous challenges it faces, especially the current economic crisis, and chronic corruption.
The impact of the Brazilian political crisis on global politics has been damaging because the world needs the contribution of the region’s largest country.
Geographically and politically, Brazil has to be the axis around which its predominantly Spanish-speaking neighbours must turn and coordinate their policies.
Russia, China and India have strengthened their politico-economic bilateral relations with Brazil considerably in recent years, and will be fearful of what the future may hold.
Due to leadership crisis first in South Africa and now in Brazil, the efficacy of BRICS, IBSA and BASIC has become precarious.
2.12. RUSSIA-PAKISTAN
Why in News?
Pakistan-Russia conducted first-ever joint military drills dubbed ‘Friendship—2016’ in Pakistan. Reflecting growing military ties between the two former Cold War rivals.
Concerns for India
Joint military exercise held at a moment when India was trying to isolate Pakistan after the Uri attacks, coping with fresh political violence inside Kashmir, and drawing international attention to India’s claims over Gilgit-Baltistan.
That Russia was unwilling to postpone these exercises in deference to Indian sensitivities at this critical juncture suggests something fundamental is at work in Moscow’s approach to the Subcontinent.
The joint drill is seen as another step in growing military-to-military cooperation, indicating a steady growth in bilateral relationship between the two countries.
A Russian-Pakistani renaissance started in 2014 when the Kremlin removed its arms embargo against Islamabad.
In 2015, Moscow agreed to sell four Mi-35M helicopters to Pakistan and welcomed Islamabad to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Change in Russia’s strategy
Under President Vladimir Putin, Russia has shown assertiveness in international affairs.
It has taken a clear position on opposing Western intervention and militarist regime-change policies in Iraq and Libya and now in Syria.
Russia has used counter-force in the fight against the Islamic State in backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
It retook the province of Crimea that it had gifted Ukraine in 1954 due to (Soviet) historical reasons. This invited unilateral sanctions on Russia from the U.S. and the European Union.
Demonised by the West, Russia has become a strategic partner of China and they have significant convergence of interests.
Russia dependent on arms and energy exports is constantly looking for new markets and Pakistan is a potential one. The planned exercises were an extension of this search.
India’s policy shift-
India as an emerging power has developed a strategic partnership with the U.S. There are real and perceived shifts in Indian armament policies where Russia dominated for years.
India has opened up to the U.S., France, and Israel, all of whom are gradually edging out the Russians in some sectors. The Kremlin has grown cautious lately about India’s augmenting defense cooperation with the United States and other Western nations.
Russia-India trade has not grown to great heights despite the encouragement of both states. Yet India has been supportive of Russian positions and has a careful and calibrated response to all Russian actions — in Chechnya, Syria, Ukraine and elsewhere, India has supported Russia. The Russians, on their part, have dutifully backed the Indian position on Kashmir.
The greatest weakness is the lack of an economic relationship that encompasses the Indian private sector. India’s odd defence purchase and equity stake in a Siberian oil or gas field are substitutes for rather than the basis of a strategic relationship.
India has its own military exercises with the U.S. and has signed logistics agreements which can eventually give the U.S. access to Indian naval bases.
Way forward :
The military exercise may not have much impact on India-Russia relations but surely it indicates that India cannot take Russia for granted. There is urgent need to revitalize our relation with Russia. In these circumstances, India has to rebuild on its strengths and common concerns with the Russians. Russia will not become a major Pakistani partner any time soon, and will remain closely connected to India. Still, the Kremlin’s move delivers a strong message to the Modi administration. In effect, New Delhi acknowledges Moscow’s security concerns but also understands that the Russia-Pakistani partnership would continue to evolve proportionally to India’s cooperation with the West.
